The Lost Stone of SkyCity

by HM Waugh

  She looks everywhere but at me. ‘We should go later.’

  I blink. Well, if this isn’t about me, then it has to be about the Princess. Without thought I reach out to her with my mind, to make sure she’s as well as they say she is.

  I stumble back onto the bench.

  ‘It was you!’ I’d known the feel of our mystery saviour was familiar. And now I know why. It was Princess Rishala. She’s a Protector, too. She must’ve used up all her power, because I can’t feel any in her now.

  But she will be Queen. How could she be a Protector?

  The three of them are staring at me.

  ‘I don’t understand,’ I say.

  ‘Um.’ Praseep is aghast, and swivels to look at his sister.

  More silence. Then Princess Rishala shrugs. ‘It is okay. It was silly of me to try and keep hiding it. I should have known it would be obvious to her now.’ She comes forward and sits on a bench opposite me. ‘Sunaya, I’m sorry we tried to deceive you. It was I who destroyed Vilpur. Had I not been unconscious, I would have dealt with him earlier.’

  ‘But you are to be Queen!’

  ‘Having the power does not stop that.’

  ‘But …’ I shake my head to clear it. I’m not making much sense even to myself. ‘But, you were so strong. Why are you even looking for a Protector? You could be your own Cloud Dragon!’

  She raises her hands to her neck, unclipping her ruby necklace. ‘It is not traditional. I would seem too powerful. I have learnt to suppress it since it first began to surface, and this necklace helps.’ The necklace comes free and instantly I can feel her power.

  ‘Whoa,’ I say.

  She nods. ‘It was a good plan. Praseep would become my Cloud Dragon, and we could keep hiding it together. The Queen does not even know. But now …’ She shrugs, her hands taking in where we are and how much their plan has gone off course.

  I stare at her, my mind whirling. ‘So you’re super powerful?’

  She nods.

  ‘More powerful than me or Praseep?’

  She nods again.

  I hold my shivering hands to my middle. ‘So, if you’re done hiding this from me, how about heating this place up a little?’

  Aji gasps and Princess Rishala’s eyes widen.

  Praseep’s lips twitch. ‘She has got a point, Your Highness. Even if she does not state it very elegantly.’

  The Princess tries to glare at Praseep, but her mouth is curving up too. Suddenly, a heat ball appears, and then another, and then another, all raging like infernos compared to the little things Aji managed to create. I sigh in relief as the first ball floats over to radiate me.

  ‘Thanks.’

  ‘You are welcome.’

  I look at her, at the way her face lights up from using her gift, and it changes who she is for me. She doesn’t need a Protector. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t need a friend.

  ‘You should stop hiding,’ I say.

  Praseep opens his mouth, probably to object, but the Princess raises her hand. ‘I can’t. I need to be who my people expect me to be.’

  ‘Says who?’

  Her face falls. ‘Vilpur, actually.’ She looks up at her brother, her eyes wide. ‘It was Vilpur who told me I had to hide. All along, it was him, and I trusted him. I believed him.’

  ‘We all did,’ says Aji.

  I smile at the Princess. ‘I’ve never felt freer than since I came up here and found out I wasn’t a freak. I say, be who you are, Your Highness, and be proud of it. Work to make things the way you want them to be.’

  ‘What I want is my brother by my side, as my Cloud Dragon. But that can’t be. I might be able to open my true self up to everyone, but I can’t change the results of the Tests.’

  I look down. It’s not my fault I’m here, but I still feel responsible. If only Praseep had passed that last level …

  Then I gasp. ‘You don’t need to change anything.’

  ‘What do you mean?’

  ‘Praseep has passed the Cloud Dragon Tests. Every single one. He did so today.’

  Princess Rishala’s eyes dim as she shakes her head. ‘No, the Seers said I would find my Cloud Dragon near the Dirt, and there I found you.’

  I bite my lip. ‘You failed at Resilience last time, didn’t you Praseep?’

  He grimaces. ‘I could not take it. I hated hearing all those things.’

  ‘Which were?’

  ‘That I am not the best, I am not the strongest. I am not what I was raised to be.’

  I frown. ‘But that’s not what that level attacked you with today.’

  Aji looks up, eyes alight. ‘Resilience Tests a person’s greatest weaknesses. If it didn’t say the same things to you, it means you are no longer susceptible to the same taunts.’

  ‘It barely said anything to him,’ I say.

  Aji smiles. ‘No weaknesses. So what has changed?’

  Praseep smiles and shrugs, he looks embarrassed. ‘I guess I met a Dirt-Girl who taught me there are more important things than being the best.’

  I leap up. ‘So maybe that’s it! You walked to the edge of Dirt, and found me. And by finding me, you learned how to be the Protector you need to be. The Seers never said the person you found would be the Princess’ Cloud Dragon. Just that going there was necessary to find the one!’

  Praseep stares at me, mouth open. ‘I am her Cloud Dragon?’

  I grin. ‘You’ve passed the Cloud Dragon Tests.’

  Aji takes the opal pendant from the bowl where it has been waiting since Danam first began the Tests, and loops it over Praseep’s head. The tiny sapphires sparkle.

  Princess Rishala runs to him, throwing her arms around him. ‘Oh Praseep, I’m so glad!’

  I grin. The two of them look beyond happy. ‘And I can go home,’ I murmur. The words feel weird in my mouth. Surely, after wanting to leave for so long, I couldn’t now be regretting my ability to do so?

  Praseep disentangles himself from his sister. ‘You want to leave?’

  ‘This isn’t my home.’

  As if in agreement, ZuZu bleats next to me. I smile at her and then make myself smile at the others, too. ‘And those aren’t your gotals. I need to take them back to my family.’

  Princess Rishala stands tall. ‘Those gotals are ours now, you broke the agreement and stepped onto our land.’

  I bristle. ‘An agreement made because your people thought our people had stolen something that in actual fact had been pinched by some birds.’

  She looks away. ‘Oh, right, I forgot that.’

  Praseep looks startled. ‘Speaking of stones, I need to give you this.’ He’s holding out the Stone. To me.

  I ward him off. ‘Oh, no you don’t.’

  ‘What? Why not? You’ve more than earned it.’

  I shake my head. ‘I only just got out of one destiny, I don’t want that prophecy grabbing me.’

  The Princess laughs. ‘You do not need to worry about that. You should have seen Praseep when he picked it up. It was the exact image of the final prophecy panel.’

  My mouth drops open. ‘But didn’t the prophecy involve a king?’

  Praseep blushes. ‘Just a crown. I guess we interpreted it incorrectly …’

  ‘Of course, and the man with the broken crown …’

  Princess Rishala nods. ‘Vilpur, I guess, trying to take over.’

  ‘So I’ve been in the prophecy all along?’

  She and Praseep nod. Aji is smiling. Only Danam is downcast. I wobble my way over to him.

  ‘Hey,’ I murmur.

  His cheeks redden. ‘Hey Sunaya. Guess everyone was special here but me. And I was the last to figure it out.’

  I shake my head. ‘That’s not true.’

  ‘It is okay, I’m fine with it now.’

  ‘No, you are special. More than special. Danam, I came all the way here because of you.’

  He looks up, smiles a little. ‘Me, or the gotals?’

  I grin. ‘Okay, a little because of the gotals
.’

  He takes my hand and squeezes it.

  ‘Come home with me,’ I say.

  His face twists. ‘I suppose I’ll have to.’

  ‘Nonsense,’ says Princess Rishala. Danam looks up, face flaming even redder. She smiles shyly, her cheeks tinging pink. ‘That is, if you would like to stay … you are more than welcome.’

  Danam looks from me to her and back again. ‘Can I, do you think?’ he asks.

  I stare at him. Father would expect Danam to come back.

  Father would expect me to bring Danam back.

  But Danam isn’t a gotal.

  My heart feels like I’m riding on a dragon, but I make myself smile. ‘You choose what you want to do.’

  He grins. ‘Then I choose to stay!’

  Aji claps him on the back, and Praseep smiles and nods. Princess Rishala dips her head, but I get the feeling she’s the happiest of the lot of them.

  Praseep looks at me. ‘Will you stay, too?’

  I shake my head. ‘I need to take Father’s gotals back.’

  He fiddles with his necklaces, removing his old turquoise one and holding it out towards me. He smiles lopsidedly at me. ‘We do not have a second Cloud Dragon pendant ready, but I think you more than deserve this in the meantime. It will help you on your journey home.’

  ‘Me? An Ice Dragon?’

  ‘You’re a Cloud Dragon. You passed the Tests too.’

  Then Aji takes my hand. ‘Of course, you’ll come back to receive your Cloud pendant, won’t you?’

  I look at Praseep, staring at me so intently, and I grin. ‘Absolutely. I wouldn’t miss it for the world. And maybe I’ll get my Greatest Aunt Mera to come with me, and we’ll bring a train of yakans laden with vegetables to trade.’

  Praseep grins back. ‘Does that mean barley?’

  ‘Among other things. I mean, if you like barley, just wait till you meet carrots …’

  ‘Carrots?’

  ‘I warn you, they’re bright orange. And purple. And sometimes yellow.’

  ‘I have found there is nothing wrong with a bit of colour,’ he says. ‘Would you mind if I came with you, to apologise for taking your father’s gotals?’

  I smile at him. ‘I’d like that, Your Highness. I’d like that a lot.’

  The End

  About the author

  HM Waugh is an environmental scientist, writer and educator with a long-term love of wild places and high mountains. This has led to icy feet and sunburnt cheeks in magical countries like New Zealand, Nepal, Bolivia and Switzerland. She has studied dolphins in New Zealand and rare plants in the wheatbelt, and worked in mining and construction projects across Western Australia. She currently works with both children and animals (concurrently) at Perth Zoo, and loves being able to truthfully say she handles dragons for a job.

  First published 2019 by

  FREMANTLE PRESS

  25 Quarry Street, Fremantle WA 6160

  www.fremantlepress.com.au

  Copyright text © HM Waugh, 2019.

  The moral rights of the author have been asserted.

  This book is copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study, research, criticism or review, as permitted under the Copyright Act, no part may be reproduced by any process without written permission. Enquiries should be made to the publisher.

  Cover illustration by Alison Mutton (www.alene-art.com)

  Printed by McPherson’s Printing, Victoria, Australia.

  The Lost Stone of SkyCity

  ISBN: 9781925815948.

  Fremantle Press is supported by the State Government through the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries.